About the Festival Site
Nestled in the center of downtown Yakima, the festival site is part of the Fresh Hop Ale experience!
Located on South 3rd and Yakima Avenue in and around the Millennium Arts Plaza, the festival truly is an evening under the stars and a reason to dance in the streets!
Forming the eastern edges of the site are the William O. Douglas Federal Building and the Capitol Theatre. And the historic Larson Building shows its lovely profile to party-goers as the sun sets on the Millennium Arts Plaza. Take in Yakima's history and future with a Fresh Hop Ale in hand!
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About the historic structures making up the festival site:
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In 1999, Yakima was chosen as Washington State's only site for participation in the nationwide "Artists and Communities: Americans Create for the Millennium" project. Allied Arts initiated and coordinated the project, which culminated in downtown's Millennium Arts Plaza -- an 80 ft by 80 ft sculptural wonder designed by renowned artist Wen-ti Tsen.
The Plaza is a dynamic gathering place and serves as a symbol that Yakima is striving to make its community a stronger, more vibrant and more livable place. The Plaza is a work of public art where residents and visitors alike can cherish and engage in the past, present and future of the Yakima Valley. Every piece of the Plaza has unique meaning... we invite you to explore!
The Capitol Theatre's long history began in 1919. Over the years, as most theatres across the country did, The Capitol Theatre went from showing vaudeville to showing movies.
Concerned that it may be razed for another parking lot, the Allied Arts Council and local citizens convinced the City of Yakima to purchase the building for a complete restoration, for use as a community arts center.
On the hot, summer evening of August 19, 1975, just days after the sale was completed, an electrical short sparked a fire that raced through the Theatre's interior, destroying everything but the stage house, fly gallery, basement, dressing rooms, steel balcony supporters and most of the facade. In a matter of hours, Central Washington's only performing arts facility and a precious part of its cultural heritage was gone.
The community banded together to restore and reconstruct the theatre. On November 4, 1978, just 733 days from the start of the reconstruction, a completely restored Capitol Theatre opened its doors.
One of the early builders of note in the Yakima area was A. E. Larson. The A. E. Larson Building was a bold gamble, as construction started in the midst of the great depression, but Larson wanted to do something for the city of Yakima that would both help the city as well as serve as a landmark.
The building was completed in the summer of 1931 and there was nothing like it -- anywhere. Today, it stands as the landmark it was designed to be, at a height of 188 feet.
The William O. Douglas Federal Building, completed in 1912, is significant as Yakima's finest example of Second Renaissance Revival/Beaux Arts architecture and as the embodiment of Federal government activity in the region.
